July 30, 2015 5:59 PM

DPS Director McCraw is slammed by lawmakers but will not address specifics about Sandra Bland arrest

Chairman Coleman becomes momentarily irate with McCraw; says McCraw should reprimand his officer by telling him “don't ever throw a black woman on the ground again.”

The Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety on Thursday came hat in hand before the Texas House Committee on County Affairs as the panel investigated the death of Sandra Bland, the young woman who was stopped by a DPS officer who became quite irate with her for no good reason. Bland refused to extinguish a cigarette when the officer asked her to, which was followed by a threat to shock her with a Taser and a promise to “light you up.”

Republicans and Democrats alike raked DPS Director Steve McCraw over the coals for the way Trooper Brian Encinia treated bland during the traffic stop that preceded her death a few days later in a Waller County Jail cell. She apparently committed suicide.

When it came to specific questions about the arrest, McCraw demurred and said he would “hold in abeyance” any inquiries from lawmakers until multiple investigations by the Texas Rangers and FBI are completed.

By Scott Braddock